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More than 200 US medical organisations, religious leaders, women's health advocates, and groups providing advice for people who have been sexually assaulted have asked the US Department of Justice to correct its guidelines for treating people who have been raped because they fail to mention emergency contraception.

The issue is controversial with US anti-abortion groups. Emergency contraception usually prevents an egg from being released or fertilised, but it may, rarely, prevent implantation of a fertilised egg. Some anti-abortion groups believe that life begins at conception and prevention of implantation is murder.

The Department of Justice was required by law to develop the first national guidelines for caring for people who have been sexually assaulted. The 141 page guide was published …